Stonington High School

• Stonington High School establishes a motivating, challenging, and supportive environment that educates all students to their highest levels of academic achievement. Our curriculum and culture promote diversity, critical thinking, and collaboration among students, staff, families, and the community. We identify and hone all individuals' strengths, leading them to become active, responsible, and productive citizens in an ever-changing global society.

• A Stonington High School graduate will be a positive contributor to their community, both locally and globally, through personal responsibility, resilience and innovation.  All students will acquire an extensive core body of knowledge and develop the essential skills to become:

• Use a variety of relevant evidence to support a position or present an idea to a chosen audience with clarity and confidence. (Convince)
   

• Use clear language and/or other forms of expression effectively to convey ideas collaboratively with others in a respectful manner. (Communicate)

• Use knowledge from all disciplines and/or technology to be a participative, productive, empathetic, and responsible contributors to society. (Connect)

•  Analyze and evaluate information, data, and feedback to develop innovative and/or creative options to solve challenging situations and/or problems while considering multiple perspectives. (Consider)

 Our graduates will use the 21st Century Skills to:

1. Convince: Use critical thinking skills and a variety of relevant evidence to solve a problem, support a position, or present an idea.
2. Communicate: Use content area language clearly to convey ideas as an individual. Communicate with others in a way that facilitates a collaborative process.
3. Consider: Use all learning to develop innovative and/or creative options to solve challenging situations and/or problems.
4. Connect: Use technology to find, evaluate, create and/or share information, ethically and legally. Connect all learning to become a participative member in the social and civic community.

• To create a safe and caring school community for all students, staff, and faculty members at Stonington High School.

• Each student will feel a sense of safety, belonging, and validation.
• Each student will be known by at least one adult in the school.
• Students should feel free from physical or emotional harm, verbal harassment or intimidation.
• A school environment that is conducive to learning and growth.
• Students should feel a strong sense of belonging and of ownership for the school and each other.

• A growing number of students today come from homes that lack structure and stability.
• Historically, schools are more dedicated to the cognitive needs of students rather than their affective needs.
• Heart of education lies in a close relationship between students and faculty, children and adults.
• Every student deserves the school's attention.
• Engagement, affiliation, and belonging promote self esteem, self definition, and growth.
• We care. We share. We celebrate.
• Every faculty member is assigned 10-12 students.
• The Advisor/Advisee groups meet every other week for 20 minutes.
• Groups are instructed to create their own operating rules to live by.
• Advisors will be given guidelines to use with their groups.
• Advisors are free to develop close relations with their advisees.
• Advisors are told to refer issues of concern to the appropriate counselors, psychologists, and administrators.
• Advisors Consult with Guidance for student information when necessary.
• Many more students demonstrate a wide variety of at-risk behaviors.
• As Abraham Maslov pointed out, children will not learn unless other more primitive needs, like safety and security, are fulfilled.
• Students have shown that role models, advisors, and other positive adult friends can have profound effects upon the lives of adolescents.
• No student should fall between the cracks.
• People who know each other tend to like each other and thus tend to take care of each other.
• Schools are best described as four walls surrounding the future.
• Students are grouped by grade and home base.
• Students will stay with their advisor all year, for 4 years.
• Advisors get to know students, their academic performance, the school improvements, and their interests and goals. They maintain files/portfolios.
• Advisors are student advocates.
• Advisors are free to develop their own activities, but should follow assigned grade level themes.
• Advisors are not mandated to develop close relationships.
• Advisors receive all important information on students.

• Personal Responsibility
• Respect for Self and Others
• Tolerance for others and their opinions
• Technical Literacy
• Partnerships among students, staff, and the community.

Our graduates will use the 21st Century Skills to:

• Convince: Use critical thinking skills and a variety of relevant evidence to solve a problem, support a position, or present an idea.
• Communicate: Use content area language clearly to convey ideas as an individual. Communicate with others in a way that facilitates a collaborative process.
• Consider: Use all learning to develop innovative and/or creative options to solve challenging situations and/or problems.
• Connect: Use technology to find, evaluate, create and/or share information, ethically and legally. Connect all learning to become a participative member in the social and civic community.

• Participate actively
• Work together to learn
• Construct knowledge
• Engage in authentic experiences
• Reflect/self-assess/set goals
• Connect what they are learning to the world
• Can talk to their teachers and each other
• Get timely and meaningful feedback

• Collaborate and communicate effectively
• Use multiple strategies based on content and student needs
• Encourage independent thinking and innovation
• Create a positive, respectful learning environment
• Demonstrate they are learners who construct knowledge
• Create meaningful, rigorous, relevant and increasingly complex work
• Use varied assessments to make decisions about what and how they teach

Alma Mater

Far above Atlantic Waters
Etched against the sky,
Stands our faithful Alma Meter,
Memories never die.

Ever onward we will always
Keep thee as our guide.
Never stumbling, never shriking,
In our heartful pride.

-Chorus-
Forward, ever be our watchword
Conquer and prevail,
Hail to thee Almar Mater,
Stonington all hail

Here's To Old Stonington

​​​​​​​
Here's to old Stonington,
here's to her name
She is our guiding star
That leads us up to
F-A-M-E

Here's to old Stonington
Steadfast and true
We'll be so happy
While we're here with you

RAH, RAH!